He emerged in orbit over a significantly higher-step planet, this time veiled enough that he wasn’t immediately accosted by the local goons. For a moment, as he looked down on the world— with its vast seas and scattered islands, and two massive continents on either side of the equator— and allowed himself to just… ponder his course of action. At first, he’d wanted to join a sect as a janitor or something, but that kinda… wasn’t very feasible? At least, he wouldn’t be able to so easily just do that; furthermore, he didn’t even really want to be a janitor. That sounded kind of boring, and he wasn’t sure how long he’d last before he got tired of the never-ending arrogance of young cultivators and punted one into the sun. In a friendly sort of way, of course.

  Perhaps something else. A merchant? No, that’d be too easy, his ring would trivialize the whole thing and he’d be tempted to make something stupid like a mountain-sized spatial storage crate. Politician? Laughable. Much the same for any sort of high profile job. Craftsman? No, he’d been doing actually interesting crafts for the past eon and a lot, and he wasn’t looking forward to working on… he didn’t know, sinks or something? Whatever mortals used.

  No, it’d have to be something easy enough that he wasn’t tempted to trivialize it with his expertise, and hard enough that it wasn’t mind numbing. Not a wide selection… oh! And it couldn’t be too public, either… he frowned, thinking on it for a day or so—

  Then, it struck him. Librarian. It was perfect! He quickly slipped through the Chaos Sea and emerged out above a city on the largest of the two big continents, scanning over it until he found— there, a library. Wrapping himself in airtight veils, he stepped down onto the strange asphalt street, stepping up and knocking on the door.

  A few seconds later, a bedraggled looking man opened the door, then froze, eyes widening dramatically. “Honored cultivator! What can this lowly one do to help you?”

  He paused for a second, remembering he was dressed in Immortal Ascension rank robes and hadn’t changed his appearance from that of an Immortal Sovereign. Ah… that might be a problem. “I was just… passing through. Don’t mind me.” Then, he leapt into the air, darting along the rooftops for just a moment before cutting open a portal and jumping straight back into the Chaos Sea.

  New city. This time, he made sure to make his features mortal— perfectly bronzed skin desaturating to a weathered sort of appearance, subtle imperfections marring his appearance, and he even looked around to grab a few sets of the far more casual clothes that seemed to be preferred by the planet’s population. Finally, he stopped beside a different library, confidently entering. “I’d like a job.”

  The librarian behind the desk sighed, dropping her head into her hands. “We’re not hiring.” Then she muttered something about ‘getting the weird ones,’ whatever that meant. “Would you like to read a book?”

  Right. Hiring. Internally cursing himself for his stupidity, he slowly backed out of the building. “I’ll… be fine. Bye!” Then before she could so much as react, he dissolved into a shaft of sunlight and was gone. Heavens above, that’d been embarrassing. He was not going to repeat that one again…

  ………

  Another city, this time on the tiny central continent. “So you’re here for the job interview?” He’d actually managed to make it into the head librarian’s office this time, a small, sunlit place constructed of dusty wood and way too many bookshelves that very much fit the kind-looking elderly man it housed. “It’s nice to see the younger generation take an interest in this old man’s job. Of course, before we start, let’s get through the formalities. I just need to scan your ID, and take a look at your qualifications—”

  He was gone through the window before the old man even finished his sentence, cheeks burning. Not again…

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  ……….

  Another city, this time all the way on the northernmost continent, sitting in front of a rather finely fitted desk in a strangely large space for an office, stained glass windows spilling cold light onto the space between them. A dour woman leaned back in a chair that was barely large enough to fit her, fixing him with a gaze that was probably meant to be intimidating but was about as effective against him as a kitten’s fury. “Well.” She slid a stack of papers— and wow had it been difficult to get those papers; apparently career criminals didn’t seem to be all that good at forging identities for librarians on this planet— “everything seems to be in order.” But he’d managed. “Let me ask you, Mr. Leng Mingtian, what would make you a good fit as a librarian at our prestigious institution?”

  He… hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “I… know things.” That had been a bad answer, and even he knew that.

  The woman narrowed her eyes at him. “You know things. Really, how novel.” She stared at him in silence for an uncomfortably long amount of time. “Such as…”

  He shrugged. “Formations, refining, qi theory, domain theory, smithing, elemental theory, and so on.”

  “Of course…” she sighed. “I regret to inform you that this library is a respectable mortal institution, not some sort of… knockoff faux sect. Either sell your work to your fellow fringe theorists or reinvest in a real education, but either way I don’t believe this institution has a place for you.”

  He sighed, standing. “Of course. Apologies for imposing.”

  At least he walked out normally that time. Small victories?

  ………

  Twelve cities later, he sat at the desk of a small, stressed looking woman, their face worn into a permanently tired sort of look— feeling rather disgruntled. He’d thought it’d be a lot easier to get a job as a librarian, but no, everything was so well done. He couldn’t even be all that upset! It was just… they expected their librarians to be knowledgeable about all the weirdest things! Nobody cared about knowing formations or qi theory— no, they all wanted mechanics and mathematics and literary theory—

  “—alright? Alright?” He blinked, refocusing before he lost another opportunity. “We’ve needed another librarian for a long while. Janus and I don’t have enough manpower to keep everything running ourselves, and if we stretch on acquisitions, we should have enough to hire a junior librarian. I know the salary isn’t great, but…” she grimaced. “There’s not much we can do here. The precinct is poor enough as it is. But if you’re willing…”

  He blinked, spending a long moment just… surprised. He’d actually gotten a job offer? That was… that was awesome! And also something that he needed to act on immediately. “Of course! Of course I can do that. I’d love to.”

  Had that been too strong of an acceptance? The diminutive chief librarian squinted at him, then just shrugged. “Alright then. See you on Monday two hours before opening. I’ll bring coffee and introduce you to Janus.” She smiled, just a little, relieved. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

  Mingtian grinned back, laughing— giddily, excited. “Likewise.” Finally. That’d taken forever… but, he’d done it. He held out his hand in the way that he’d found the mortals of this world preferred when it came to making deals. “That might fortune bless our futures?”

  She blinked, then reached out and shook his hand firmly. “To a prosperous association, yes—” just for a moment, so united— “welcome to 32nd Library of East Saffron.”

  One could, technically, call Mingtian an undocumented immigrant. Just one of those unwise courting death cultivator decisions you could do.

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